Kentucky’s Department of Corrections granted WLKY permission to make history by conducting a group interview with seven convicted killers. All seven grabbed headlines, but years after they killed, each of the inmates shares what life is like behind bars.

While the shootings are happening across the metro, in a pocket of west Louisville, shootings and killings have become a chronic problem in the African-American community.

In part one of this important series, WLKY Investigative Reporter Duane Pohlman takes you to what’s known as the epicenter of the gun epidemic, Beecher Terrace, where children are immersed in violence and young guns strike fear.

Guns, Kids and the Street

Nearly everyone here is immersed in an often paralyzing cycle of guns, violence and pain.

“People can start shootin' and like anybody can get hit,” said 13-year-old Jayjuan Taylor.

Seven years ago, now-19-year-old Stacia Young was hit by a stray bullet fired during a fight.

When asked if there is anyone on the west side who hasn’t been touched by violence, Young answered, “No. Not at all.”

Young may have taken a bullet, but other children bear the emotional scars of living with guns and violence.

“People have guns and they get angry,” Taylor stated as a matter of fact.

Teens and “Bad Stuff”

At just 13, Taylor has already seen many guns, including an AK-47, AR 15 and other assault-style, high-caliber guns that have been at the center of mass shootings across the country.

Taylor said he hears them fired in his neighborhood every week.

When asked why he deals with guns, Taylor answered, “That's because I'm surrounded by bad stuff.”

That “bad stuff” turns even worse when the gun is leveled at you.

Several weeks ago, as he was walking in Beecher Terrace, Taylor said someone pointed a gun at him.

“I turned around and I saw it,” Taylor said. He never knew why the young man who was holding it pointed it at him.

Faced with a very real fight or flight moment, Taylor ran. As he fled, he said he was sure he was about to be shot.

Even the Games are Violent

To keep away from the violence and conflict, Taylor said he goes home to his subsidized apartment to play games on his PlayStation.

His favorite game is Grand Theft Auto, a game he laughingly conceded includes killing cops.

“When I get mad, that's really the time I play that game ‘cause I know I can take all that anger out make believe people,” he said.

Taylor’s anger is fueled by an absent father who has been in and out of prison for as long as he can remember.

Taylor saw his father just two times after he was released last year. He just found out his father was arrested again, this time for violating his parole.

Taylor said he struggles to keep clear of the guns and admitted he would be in trouble if he had his own.

“I knew if I had that gun and I got angry, I would have shot someone or somebody would have shot me,” he said.

Brothers in Arms

On the streets, most are given nicknames. None have names more colorful than 11-year-old Kemone, known as “Chewy” and his 13-year-old brother Khalil, who is called “Tank.”

Together, Chewy and Tank try to steer a path clear of the street violence that surrounds them.

Chewy doesn’t know who his father is. Tank’s dad was shot.

Both said they’ve held guns.

Death literally dropped on their doorstep at Beecher Terrace when Pete Powell was shot dead outside their home.

“I seen the bullet hit him. He just fell down and he was dead,” Tank said.

His brother shied away from the reaction to that memory, only recalling that he was scared.

The brothers play basketball in a community league appropriately names “Who’s Next” to stay off the streets and out of trouble.

They both said they know the world of guns and violence outside is not what most people their age face.

“It's not normal,” Chewy said. “People usually have fun and laugh.”

Keepin’ it 100 Real

At Beecher Terrace, under the guidance of local anti-violence advocate Christopher 2X, a group of teens formed a group to talk about the violence that touches their lives.

“Another black person dead,” one of the teens said, referring to the numbing effect on the community as a whole.

Young was at the meeting, too, recalling how it felt to be on the wrong side of a gun.

“I was running a little bit. Then my whole body collapsed,” Young said.

She added that she felt like her 12-year-old body was “on fire” when the 0.45-caliber round ripped through her body.

Her friend, Cheyenne Posie, carried her away from the flying bullets.

Since then, Posie has lost two boyfriends to gunfire, including the father of her children.

Posie cried as she explained the devastating effect.

“That was my backbone. My everything. I wake up to my kids every day knowing they don't have no daddy,” she said.

Cathartic releases, the group hopes, will help lead to real support and voices against gun violence, described by nearly everyone at the meeting as a chronic problem.

What next?

Tank and Chewy said they will take care of each other, even though Tank said he is sure he will not be able to avoid the inevitable.

“I'm not going to know what to do when I have a gun pointed at me,” he said.

Meanwhile, Taylor said he is unsure whether he will avoid becoming the problem.

When asked if he will make it through without getting in to trouble or acting in a violent way, Taylor could only shrug his shoulders and muster a hushed, “Maybe.”